Oh heck yeah.

There's a shortage of Gideon the Ninth read-a-likes and I'm always happy for one more. This book rocked.

Lesbian commoner-soldier/high-lady-with-dark-powers caustic romance while surviving/investigating grisly violent eldritch horror is really the mood that I need right now.

Also a good read-a-like for Hailey Piper's similarly themed No Gods for Drowning.

I don’t even know. I find it hard to rate this because I just have so many thoughts.

I wouldn’t call the Tomes & Tea series fully cozy, but cozy-adjacent at least, especially the first book. This one is definitely….not. There are a ton of trigger warnings in the front, and yeah. Nothing fluffy and light about this book. Read the trigger warnings and take them seriously before deciding if you want to read this book. And don’t read this hoping for cozy.

That being said, now that I’ve read it, I need to read the next one because I can’t leave it like that!

Sci-Fi, romance, and a killer disease threatening the lives of an underwater city, I was hooked from page one.

<b>Overview:</b>In a country of towering opulent skyscrapers and crowded shortscrapers, life is dictated by two things, - One: the ongoing battle between Valkesh and the neighbouring Triolans - and Two: Valkesh's ability to mine and use a mysterious substance called Ichoron.

Sergeant Nix Marr is a soldier of Valkesh, battling memories of losing her best friend to the underwater city mines that house Ichoron, and her whirlwind romance with Valkesh's beloved Subarch, Kessandra. Kessandra, who suddenly shows up to drag Nix back into those mines she is determined to never re-enter.

<i>This Gilded Abyss</i> has action, intrigue, political suspense, and romance blended into a sci-fi horror that had me staying up late to finish. Nix is a strong and flawed protagonist, blended wonderfully to draw the reader into her story. I loved the closed environment of the nautical vessel as the main setting, it creates a sense of doom, urgency and dread throughout the novel.

The romance interplays with the intrigue and horror beautifully. A blend of second chance, and enemies to lovers - it seamlessly ties into the rest of the narrative, adding urgency and reasoning behind Nix and Kessandra's actions.

I eagerly await book 2 as I need to know how Nix and Kess escape the situation they have found themselves in.



Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.


#Indigoemployee

The only other Rebecca Thorne books I’ve read are the Tomes and Tea series, which is lovely and cozy and queer. This Gilded Abyss does have a lesbian romance at the middle of it, but is not cozy and not at all lovely. But it’s one hell of an opening volume to a series, setting up a militaristic world fueled by what seems like a miracle metal. This delivers as a tough, intense, political science fiction thriller. I’m ready for the next one.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book early - I had such a blast!

Action-packed and emotionally-charged, This Gilded Abyss, is an excellent first book to a new sci-fi/fantasy series. Sergeant Nix is trying to fly below the radar in the military while she tries to forget the tragedies and betrayal she experienced at the bottom of the ocean during a deployment. But when the city’s favorite princess, Kessandra, (and Nix’s ex-girlfriend who betrayed her on that fateful expedition) asks for Nix’s help below the ocean’s surface once more, Nix is more than happy to refuse, until it becomes clear that Kess will do whatever it takes to have Nix on the ship with her.

Now trapped on a luxury cruise liner as bodyguard to her ex, Nix is disgusted at the grotesque divide between the wealthy elite and the poor villages she and many of her friends are from. But when a gruesome murder disrupts their trip, Kess reveals the real reason she needs Nix—the magic substance that they mine from the ocean floor and that powers their city is poisoning people to madness, and no one is safe.

A high-stakes mystery, filled with romantic and narrative tension, and a story that does not shy away from gore or putting your favorite characters at risk, this book felt unique and engrossing. I wanted to know Nix and Kess’ history, the truth behind their failed expedition and the current mysteries, and I can honestly say I was blindsided by the twist. I can’t wait for the next book in the series already.

This was the fantasy/sci-fi action book of my dreams! I've loved and devoured every book by Rebecca Thorne so far. They've always captured my heart and my imagination, but this book absolutely enveloped me from the start. I love the world of Valkeshia and Fall and their ill-fated submarine. The war, the societal inequalities, and the slow-burn second chance romance really gave me everything I was looking for. I'm frothing at the mouth for the next book in the trilogy!

This book absolutely wrecked me in the most addictive way. It’s sultry and violent and dripping with tension, and I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s the kind of push and pull that makes you want to scream at them and then hold them both close. I loved how fiercely the book lets its women be messy, brilliant, ruthless, vulnerable, and full of contradiction. It feels feral and intimate all at once. I loved every bit of it. I’m still thinking about the final pages and how much I need more.

This book is creepy, fun, thrilling, and (most importantly) gay! Rebecca Thorne knows how to deliver a great relationship that mixes in perfectly with a well-structured plot. I can't wait for the release of the sequel!

If you've read the Tomes and Tea series and want more lesbian adventure, definitely take a look at the content warnings because there is a lot of death and violence in this book!

This book is like combining the Titanic and Atlantis movies mixed in with some eldritch horrors. Think of Illuminae but the spaceship is a submarine

I received digital copies of this book from NetGalley, but the opinions are my own!

Sergeant Nix Marr just wants to leave the past behind. Bury it beneath the bioluminescent ocean and forget about it. But when Nix’s ex Subarch Kessandra (everyone’s favorite royal) requests her help investigating a massacre, it’s the last thing she wants to do. Forced to confront her past and protect her ex from harm , and boarding a submersible. Nix gets thrown into a vicious battle. A deadly disease starts to spread on their ship The Luminosity. No one is safe. Not even from each other.
I absolutely LOVED this book! This is my first book by Rebecca Thorne and after I finished it I immediately looked her up and was so happy to see that a sequel is coming out to this next year!! Funnily enough I thought the name sounded familiar and saw she wrote another popular series. I immediately bought it because I loved her writing so so much! I’m so sorry to her fans who have been waiting 3 years for this sequel. I couldn’t imagine because I’m frothing at the mouth ready for the next one right now! First of all the characters. Nix and Kess have some seriously incredible chemistry. I could feel the heat rising from the pages from the very beginning. Besides being told about it, you can just feel the history between them. The banter? So good. Most of the time I felt like I was interrupting a private moment! The side characters are so great too! Even the ones who you barely talk to, you feel their presence throughout. I love how no one is forgotten by our two characters. They are in a dangerous situation and almost always our side characters are brought up in thoughts or conversation one way or another. The story was so interesting! I loved learning about this specific world’s lore and how things work. How the different societies think, look and act. You can tell a great deal of work went into building this world and how there still is so much more to learn and uncover. I enjoyed the pacing as well. Very fast paced and to the point. Short chapters which I appreciate and it also knows when to slow down and take a breather. I thoroughly enjoyed this. If you’re fascinated with the events of Titanic, love sapphic romance, a little bit of Sci-Fi and going through a TON of emotions, this book is for you! I am so ready for book 2!
5/5 stars ✨

not sure if I'm reading into arcane being a comp title too hard but. . . feeling fantastic reference? This was a fun sapphic horror, I can't wait to see where book two goes. The action was good. A lot different from the cozy I'm used to in the other series.

This one's on me; I read "Can't Spell Treason Without Tea" last year and disliked it strongly, then requested this book not realizing it was the same author. Unfortunately, I had the same issues with "This Gilded Abyss" that I did with Thorne's other work - a clunky, tell-not-show writing style that dumps exposition awkwardly through character monologues and allows for absolutely no nuance. There's bad, repetitive word choice (ie, characters saying things "sarcastically" without any actual sarcasm having been uttered), there's broad, shallow character work, and while this book is supposed to be adult, it reads like YA in its simplicity.

And yeah, it's supposed to be horror, but the horror is more "let's be as gory as I can be!" and lacks tension.

Sorry everyone! This author is not for me, clearly - and I'll be more careful when requesting.

dnf @ 29%


I think this didn't work for me both because I don't click with the author's writing, but also because of how it was marketed. While it's described as fantasy, it feels like it's scifi set in a secondary world. Which is fine and something a lot of people will enjoy, but it was not what I expected or was looking for when I picked it up.

This book had me in a chokehold from the first page. The world is lush and eerie, pulsing with bioluminescent danger, and somehow still feels so intimate and emotional. The writing is sharp and immersive, with a cinematic quality that brings the undersea world alive. I could feel the weight of water around the submersible, the dread creeping in with every page. But more than that, I felt the ache of unresolved love, the kind that never truly burns out. The romance is laced with regret and hope in equal measure, and it hits so hard because it feels so earned. Plus, the way Thorne explores themes of forgiveness, both of others and yourself, resonated with me so deeply. I’m already desperate for more from Rebecca Thorne because this book has completely ruined me for anything less brilliant.

This Gilded Abyss
By Rebecca Thorne
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐Book: 49
Favorite Quote:
“Everyone is a pawn… but this isn’t my board.”

Thank you NetGalley and Tor publishing for the opportunity to read this rerelease ARC for This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne.
I love Rebecca Thorne... I have read basically all ARCs by her and Tor since a Pirate's Life for Tea, I own the Broken Binding special editions of the first three books, so to say that I was excited to see her on NetGalley again is an understatement. Once I really got into This Gilded Abyss, I did a bit of research and realized that this book actually came out a few years ago and this is the official re-release under Rebecca's new publisher. Regardless, I devoured this book. I loved the dynamics and the characters. I know that one of the major issues was zombies but the zombies and how they reacted felt similar to how the sirens in Mira Grant's "Into the Drowning Deep" felt. Which was great because I do not normally do well with zombie related media. Since this was a re-release, I was also able to get the audiobook from my library which made reading a breeze. The new cover also reminds of Oz in the Wizard of Oz once Dorothy and the Gang first see the city.

This was an absolute rollercoaster that’s impossible to put down. From the first page, this blood-soaked fantasy took me on a wild ride filled with jaw-dropping twists, high stakes, and an unforgettable romance. The worldbuilding is rich and immersive, and I was immediately hooked on the gripping premise, lesbian soldiers fighting zombies on a Titanic-like ship. What more could you ask for?

The story follows Nix, a career military officer, who is blackmailed by her ex, Kessandra, into joining her on a dangerous mission to an underwater mining town. Together, they face a terrifying mystery, a deadly pandemic, and some truly gruesome horrors. The setting, with its claustrophobic submersibles and looming undersea dangers, is beautifully crafted, and I couldn’t get enough of it. Thorne’s writing pulls you in so completely that you almost forget you're reading.

The dynamic between Nix and Kess is everything. Their enemies-to-lovers arc is a perfect blend of tension, resentment, and sizzling chemistry. Kess is a brilliant, haughty politician, while Nix is a more grounded, complex character with a rich backstory that unfolds slowly. Watching their relationship evolve was a rewarding experience, and I found myself rooting for them even when things got messy.

There were some pacing issues, particularly in the first third of the book, which was a bit slow as it set up the world and characters. But once the action ramps up, the pace quickens, and the book becomes nearly impossible to put down. The second half of the novel is a thrilling, emotionally charged ride, filled with heart-stopping moments and a plot twist that caught me completely off guard. It’s the kind of story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Thorne excels at creating tension, and the horror elements are intense and truly frightening. The gore and violence can be overwhelming, but for fans of bloody, action-packed horror, this is a must-read.

Though there are a few aspects of the characters and world that could have been fleshed out more (Nix’s character in particular, as she’s often “told” rather than “shown”), the overall journey was so engaging that it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. The relationship between Nix and Kess, the twists and turns in the plot, and the sheer chaos of the horror elements kept me fully invested.

If you’re into high-stakes, bloody action with a slow-burn romance and an immersive world, this is a must-read. It’s brutal, thrilling, and full of everything you want from an adult fantasy with sapphic elements. I can’t wait for the sequel!